Legacy of Bunnymund
by Watership's Nightwish Rat
Summary: Just a month before Easter, E. Aster Bunnymund discovers that Pitch, the Boogeyman, has developed nightmare sand that can not only haunt creatures' sleep, but can kill them at his command. Knowing Pitch is trying to get to him by using these nightmares to kill rabbits, Bunny, with the help of Jack Frost, must overcome the demons of his past life and save all of rabbit kind...
1. What's Going On?

**Author's Notes:**

**Here it is, my first story having to do with _Rise of the Guardians_- -with a twist! In this story, I'm combining the brilliant Dreamworks film with my favorite movie _Watership Down_ (also contains hints of the novel of the same name). I'll say more later. Enjoy and please R&R...**

* * *

Midnight crept noiselessly over the warren of Watership Down. All was calm and peaceful in the burrows.

The atmosphere outside of them, however, was the complete opposite.

Armies of strange black rabbits charged up the hill, bulling over the native rabbits standing in their paths in hopes of stopping them. But the downed rabbits sprang back up at their adversaries with rage, aiming directly at their throats. Most of the intruders were slain, but those who were not slew their attackers and moved on with double the speed and strength they had before.

All of them bumping right into the toughest warrior of the Watership Down warren: Thlayli.

Commonly known to his friends as "Bigwig," Thlayli was a rabbit who took no nonsense and was ready to put his life on the line if it meant saving his fellow rabbits. Just a year earlier he had defeated the much larger and stronger General Woundwort, although it almost killed him in the process and caused him to resign from his duties as Owsla officer for a little while. He was only back on duty now because the seer, Fiver, foretold this attack happening.

Bigwig attacked the oncoming rabbits without hesitation. Jumping back and forth, he slashed his powerful claws across the invaders' throats until the last one was slain. Expecting to see blood and flesh on his claws, he was surprised to see black sand turn to gold sand instead. "What in Frith's name _is _all this?" he wondered aloud.

Shadows surrounded the confused officer. "Just a little something that will bring an end to your pathetic race!" a sinister voice answered.

A rabbit with a lame leg came back up the hill, carrying himself with dignity despite his limp. He stopped next to Bigwig. "Who are you?" he demanded to know, his voice calm yet assertive.

"Let's just say that I'm your worst nightmare coming back to haunt you," the voice replied venomously. "And you must be Hazel-rah, the leader of this petty warren."

"That's right," Hazel replied, a bit surprised but still collected. "Is there some way we can come to terms?" he asked. "We do not wish you or your people any trouble."

"My people?" The voice chuckled wickedly. "Oh, that's funny. These are not my people, they are merely my servants. As for not wishing us any trouble, you should: we wish trouble against all of you." With one more sound of laughter, the shadows and the black sand floated into the air and vanished.

Thlayli turned to the chief rabbit. "What do we do now, Hazel?" he asked, clearly shaken by the events.

Hazel looked at his old friend solemnly. "I don't know, Bigwig," he said gravely. "Something tells me we are about to be held under siege, and for quite a while." He looked around the top of the hill, where his surviving rabbits were standing. "Holly, assign patrols to take turns on lookout for the night," he instructed a gray rabbit.

"Yes, Hazel-rah," Holly saluted.

The chief rabbit turned his attention to Bigwig. "Come with me, old friend. We need to talk to Fiver about this... shadowy fellow," he said, unsure of what to call their new foe.

"Alright, Hazel," said Bigwig dutifully. _If what Hazel says about the siege is true_, he thought grimly,_ then Frith help us!_

"Come on, Bunny! You've gotta move faster than that to beat me!"

E. Aster Bunnymund glared at the speaker as they both dashed through the forest. "I already told you, mite," he snarled in his Australian accent, "I'm just warmin' up."

Jack Frost grinned challengingly. "To go even faster? Not likely to work. I tried it myself once, but all it did was slow me down."

"You're made of ice, you ninny," Bunny pointed out. "Of _course_ warmin' up would slow you down."

The winter spirit frowned. "Oh yeah." His smile immediately returned. "I see the finish line up ahead!" he said playfully. "Eat my frost!" His form sped ahead of his companion, whooping joyously as it did.

"Not on my watch, mite," Bunny muttered. His long, powerful legs sprang across the ground and bounced him off the trees, immediately surpassing Jack. Before long the rabbit felt his powerful chest break through the plastic ribbon that indicated the finish line- -at least he thought so. He stood on his hind legs victoriously. "Beat ya, frost-bite!"

To his amazement, however, Jack suddenly sped past him, not seeming to notice Bunny's achievement. "Come on Jack, you've got him!" a female voice whooped.

It was then Bunnymund realized he had been tricked. He quickly dashed after the winter spirit—but found he was too late: Jack had already crossed the real finish line. "Crikey!" he cursed.

Jack and three others—whom Bunny recognized as Santa Claus (known to the others as North), the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman—were rolling on the ground with laughter. "You fell for the oldest trick in the book!" North cackled.

"Don't talk to me about tricks!" Bunny snapped.

"Why not?" Jack inquired, almost out of breath from laughing so hard. "Weren't you a normal rabbit in your past life? They pull tricks all the time, don't they?"

The rabbit glared dangerously at the Guardian of Fun, causing him and the other Guardians to stop laughing. "I was more than a normal rabbit," Bunny growled. "I was their leader. They depended on me to save them, and I failed them." Bunny looked down shamefully. "I failed to save them with my tricks, as I always had." He sadly walked away from the group. "I have nothing left for tricks," he said over his shoulder in a barely audible whisper, "and tricks have nothing left for me." He thumped on the ground three times with his right hind foot. A large hole opened in the ground next to him. Without further ado, he jumped into the hole, which immediately closed behind him.

The four remaining Guardians stood in guilty silence for a few minutes. None of them was feeling more guilty than Jack, whose idea it was to prank Bunnymund. The winter spirit walked towards where the hole had been. "What are you doing, Jack?" North asked in his thick, Russian accent at last.

"I'm gonna apologize to him, North," Jack replied. "As soon as I figure out how to get there, that is."

North shook his head despairingly. "You'd better wait a few minutes for him to cool off," he advised. "Besides, there's no way to reach him when the holes are closed."

With a glimmer of remembrance and playfulness in his ice blue eyes, Jack held up a familiar sphere. North recognized it immediately and felt his cloak for something, realizing then that the ball Jack held was indeed what he was looking for. "I don't like it, Jack," the big man said cautiously. "Give me my globe back."

"I will, _after_ I apologize to Bunny," Jack stated flatly, seriousness filling his eyes once more. Without waiting for his friends to object, he threw the globe to the ground. A portal opened in the ground, and Jack immediately jumped through it.

Tooth was unusually grave. "I hope he knows what he's doing," she murmured.

A small hummingbird-like figure squeaked in solemn agreement.

"I agree with you on that, Tooth," North said gravely. "Who knows exactly how upset Bunny will be?"

Sandman shrugged, although he knew what was troubling Bunny. The Guardian of Dreams recalled the previous night when he failed to give pleasant dreams to the Guardian of Hope. As much as Sandman wanted to tell his friends this, he knew it would be useless to try to without a voice. It was, after all, hard to get their attention when the Man in the Moon, another silent Guardian, was trying to tell them about recruiting Jack Frost when the Boogeyman (known to them as "Pitch") had returned just a year ago.

To the silent, golden Guardian, it seemed Pitch had returned once more.


	2. Bunny's Secret

"What do you mean, 'you don't know?!'" Bigwig exploded. "You're the one who saw this attack coming!"

"I already told you, Bigwig," Fiver said in a tone that was more harsh than usual: "I don't know everything about what goes on in my visions. I only know that this foe is out for revenge."

Hazel looked at his brother thoughtfully. "Well, we know it's not Woundwort's spirit," he stated. "It's not like him to hide in shadows like this fellow. His voice didn't sound quite like that, either."

Bigwig nodded sagely. "I agree with you on that, my friend, though I don't know who else would want to come after us. Vervain's spirit?"

"From what I've heard from the former Efrafans, Vervain was a coward that would never do something without Woundwort."

"Maybe it's not exactly _us_ our new enemy wants revenge on," Fiver pointed out.

Both rabbits looked at each other for a moment, exchanging glances. It was plain that they had not considered the thought Fiver just said until then. "That's a good point, Fiver," Hazel said. "But another question forms: if it's not us he's seeking revenge on, then whom?"

Fiver blinked and shrugged. "I don't know, Hazel," he confessed. "I have a feeling we'll find the answers soon, though. Either that or the answers will find _us_ first."

Thlayli growled a little at the seer's second guess. "I hope we find them first so we're not taken by surprise," he said flatly.

The chief rabbit nodded. "I agree, though considering that we don't really know what's going on, we'll be surprised either way. All we can really do at the moment is prepare for an attack."

~!~

Jack hit the ground of The Warren with a painful gasp. Standing back up, he dusted himself off. _The things I endure for the sake of my friends_, he thought grimly. He held his staff over his shoulder as he walked around the area, relaxed yet alert as he looked for any signs of movement. "Bunny?" he called. "Are you there?"

A boomerang zipped through the air directly towards the winter spirit. Acting on impulse rather than logic, Jack dodged the weapon and hurled frost from his staff in the direction the boomerang came from. A figure skillfully jumped out of the frost's path and bounced off of a boulder, ruthlessly tackling Jack to the ground. Frost stared at his attacker in disbelief, fear etched into his blue eyes as the figure raised his right fist to strike him in the face. "Bunny! It's me, Jack!"

Bunnymund's muscles relaxed at the sound of his friend's voice, also noticing Jack's surprise. He stood up from the ground in embarassment. "Sorry, mite," he apologized quietly, helping the teenager stand back up. "I-I don't know what came over me."

Frost relaxed considerably, relieved his fellow Guardian was no longer behaving like a monster. "Don't mention it," he stated. "I was the one who came to your home without an invitation, remember?"

"True." Bunny became serious. "What are you doin' here?"

"I came to apologize for the trick," Jack answered. "I didn't mean to upset you at all."

E. Aster placed a paw on Jack's shoulder. "I know you didn't, mite," he said solemnly. "I'm just worked up is all. Had a rough time last night."

The winter spirit cocked his head sideways at Bunnymund. "What do you mean?" he inquired concernedly.

The Guardian of Hope was quiet once more. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said down-heartedly at last. "It's too painful and terrifying to speak of."

"You'll have to sometime," Jack pointed out. "Tell me, _now_."

Bunny was caught off guard by Jack's abnormal seriousness. _Then again_, he thought, _when is his seriousness ever 'normal?'_ "Alright," he gave in, "but don't tell anyone else about it, understand?"

"Understand," Frost acknowledged.

"I had a nightmare last night," Bunny said with a sigh. "It had something to do with who I was in my past life. Pitch has found a way to use his nightmares to kill living beings. They were killing my people last night."

"C'mon, Bunny," Jack said with a playful smirk. "It was just a nightmare. It doesn't mean it really happened."

"No, mite," Bunnymund said gravely, "it wasn't _just_ a nightmare: I know it was happening as I dreamt it." He sighed again, this one with more despair. "Pitch is up to something nasty. He's using the pain he inflicts on my people to get to me."

Jack was a bit confused. "Who exactly _are_ your people?" he asked. "Why do you call them that?"

"My people are rabbits, Jack," Bunny replied solemnly. "In my past life, I was their hero, their leader, their _prince_.

"I was El-ahrairah."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Sorry I didn't post this sooner: I wasn't sure if I should have waited until Chapter 3 was completed or if I should have waited to complete a different story, but there's Chapter 2 and when Bunnymund reveals who he was in his past life. Strange for me to have an "Author's Notes" section just here instead of here _and_ at the top, isn't it? Oh well, yay me for being different! Please leave a review below...**


	3. Arrival at the Down

**Author's Notes:**

**Sorry this chapter took so long to post. I was busy writing other stories and busy with finishing up the school year.**

**Last we saw Jack and Bunnymund, Bunny had just revealed to Jack that he was El-ahrairah. How will things go from there? Please R&R and enjoy...**

* * *

Jack stared at Bunnymund in shock. "You mean, _you're_ the Prince of Rabbits?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes," Bunny replied sagely.

"The guy who tried to bargain with the Black Rabbit of Inlé to save his people?"

"Yes."

"And tricked Rowsby Woof into thinking you were the Fairy Wogdog so you could get something called 'flayrah?'"

Bunny raised a suspicious eyebrow at Jack. "How do you know about all that, mite? North didn't tell you, did he?"

Frost shot Bunny a dirty look. "If he did tell me I wouldn't be so shocked about you being the famous El-ahrairah, now would I?"

The large rabbit thought it over before sighing. "You're right. Continue."

"I went to a rabbit warren on Watership Down just last winter," the winter spirit explained. "I overheard some rabbits telling stories about you and your adventures." He grinned roguishly. "Fairy Wogdog?" he teased. "Really? What kind of stupid name is that?"

"A name to fool stupid guard dogs, of course," the Easter bunny said defensively. His eyes went wide with realization. "Did you say 'Watership Down?'"

"Yeah," Jack answered. "Why?"

"That's the place where Pitch was last night, attacking the rabbits there." Aster sighed. "I don't know what to do, Jack. If I leave to help them, I'll risk losing Easter like I did last year and risk leaving our fellow Guardians unaided if Pitch tries to defeat us all again. If I stay here, my people will all die."

Jack and Bunny were overwhelmed by an eerie silence that lasted for several minutes. Jack, after thinking over what all Bunny had said, finally broke the silence. "Come on, Bunny: Easter's not for another month! You should help the rabbits: they need you. Besides, Tooth, North and Sandy can take care of themselves."

El-ahrairah looked at Frost curiously. "What about you? What are _you_ plannin' to do?"

The winter spirit grinned at his ally. "I know you're not gonna like this, but- -"

Bunny immediately caught on to what Jack was saying. "Oh, no you're not!" he said seriously. "You're stayin' here with the others!"

"That's not really up to you, now is it?" Jack said slyly. "You know very well that I do what I please and nothing can hold me back. Besides, if Pitch really is attacking the rabbits there- -"

"- -which he is," the Prince of Rabbits threw in.

"- -then you'll need my help. Sandy and I are the two he can't immediately beat."

"He feeds off fear, mite," Bunny pointed out, "and you have a lot of it for him. Don't you remember what happened last year? He was ready to kill you, but your fear stopped you from reacting in time. You were lucky Sandy arrived when he did: the rest of us were powerless to stop Pitch from killing you."

Jack frowned, obviously recalling the incident Bunny was referring to. "That is true," he said quietly. He remembered something. "You have fear for him too, you know."

"I do _not_!" Bunny protested.

"Is that so? You're afraid for the safety of your people. Also: that same night Pitch almost killed me you showed it when a shadow of his hand went to stroke you when you were- -" Jack could not help but smile- -"a cute little guy," he said in such a way someone would talk to a baby.

"Oh, shut up!" the Guardian of Hope said irritably. He let out a sigh of despair. "Alright, I'm going. And yes, you can come along. Just don't mention when I was little!"

"Okay, I won't. Am I allowed to ask questions?"

Bunnymund looked at him dangerously. "As long as they don't have to do with when I was little." He turned and stamped before jumping into the hole that opened.

Frost jumped in after his friend. "Here's my first question," he called as they fell: "what's 'flayrah?'"

"Food wild rabbits don't usually have that they find tasty," El-ahrairah answered. "You know, like carrots, radishes and lettuce."

Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Why would anyone think vegetables are tasty?" he wondered aloud.

"Depends on what your taste buds like, mite."

The Guardian of Fun glared at Bunny. "I didn't direct that question to you!"

"Then don't ask anythin' that's not directed to me!" Bunny countered. "Otherwise you'll probably get an answer you don't like!"

~!~

A silvery-gray rabbit walked to where Bigwig was standing watch at the top of the hill. "Any sight of that odd black fellow?" the rabbit asked the Owsla officer.

"Not yet, Silver," Bigwig answered gruffly. "You'll know if we see him when we give the warning signal."

Silver knew better than to ask Bigwig what the warning signal was: he could tell the officer was rather peeved about it all. He nodded respectfully. "Alright, I'll leave you to it then," he said politely. He turned around to go back to where he and several others had been grazing.

Bigwig stopped him with his voice. "Everyone, underground!" he bellowed.

Hazel, Fiver and Silver were instantly at the larger rabbit's side. "What's the matter?" Hazel asked urgently.

"Something just popped up at the bottom of the down," Bigwig replied, gesturing down the big hill with his right paw.

Fiver followed his friend's gaze and gasped. "There's two of them!" he said in a quiet yet excited voice.

"What are you talking about?" Silver asked. "I only see one."

A young rabbit rushed to where the four bucks were sitting. He saw exactly whom Fiver was talking about and smiled happily. "It's Jack Frost, and he brought El-ahrairah with him!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Upon hearing their names, the two Guardians looked up. Jack could not help but grin as he and Bunnymund ran up the hill. "It's mostly the other way around, Pipkin!" he called up to the young buck.

Bunny looked at Jack in confusion. "How did you get acquainted with the little mite?" he asked quietly.

"He was sniffing at the snow last season," the winter spirit explained. "I could tell it was his first time seeing it, so I lightly threw a small snowball at him to show him how fun it could be. He caught on fairly quickly for a rabbit his age, he, a male named Fiver, and a female named Hyzenthlay." He looked up and saw the bewildered faces of Silver and Bigwig looking at the excited Pipkin. "I guess they're the only ones that believe in me so far."

El-ahrairah winked at him. "Nothin' a talk from a well-known rabbit can't fix."

Jack grinned roguishly. "You mean a well-known kangaroo?" he asked playfully.

The Easter Bunny rolled his eyes in irritation. "Not gonna answer that."

* * *

**I know Pipkin was a kid in the TV series and not in the book, but I thought that having Pipkin being a kid in this story would be a good dynamic, considering that only children can really see Jack Frost. As for Fiver and Hyzenthlay seeing him as well, they are seers after all. Why not let them be able to see Jack? Please leave a review in the box below- -reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**See you next time!**


End file.
